


The flowers of Blizzard street

by Blipper



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 12:07:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11989476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blipper/pseuds/Blipper
Summary: A mink and his boss discover something big...





	The flowers of Blizzard street

As usual I wake up a few minutes before my alarm goes off.

 I shut it off and lie in bed for a minute collecting myself. Thrusting myself out from the covers I stumble into the kitchen. It's a clear night out there with all the clouds fleeing into the horizon so hopefully it'll be a relatively calm day. I search around for the TV remote, it's not on the counter where it should be, that's strange. A quick rustle around my apartment reveals it's under my bed however it got there. I flick on the TV and return the remote to its rightful place on the counter. The news is on with its usual stories of celebrities and murder but I continue to make myself a bowl of cereal until two words catch my attention.

"Night howlers."

I stop dead nearly spilling milk everywhere. I rush to the TV screen remote in hand, I crank up the volume like my life depends on it, the Snow Leopard anchors voice now booms across the room. "We can confirm at least three victims have been found and restrained while the assailant is still on the run, much like the first night howler cases the chemical was delivered via pellets fired by the attacker."

I turn the sound back down to a level that doesn't shatter my eardrums and make a mad dash for my phone.  I hold the power button down, starting the agonisingly long boot up process. I can throw the idea of a good day right out the window, my entire workplace will be chaotic as this news breaks. The device vibrating in my hand indicates it's on and I immediately look at the lock screen fingers trembling to discover...

Nothing

I sigh, it's to be expected really as we have much less people on the nocturnal schedule than we do the diurnal one. It gives me more time to prepare for the eventual storm coming. As I spoon cereal into my mouth I take a glance back at the news and it's still on the night howler story. Looks like it took place in Tundratown which thankfully is away from here. Victims were ambushed while leaving a restaurant, one dead and at least seven others were injured. I get a brief look of the police standing around a cordon with blood smeared onto the pavement. The news anchors start discussing who they  think is behind the attacks, personally I've got my money on it being some Bellwether lackey.  I've honestly had enough stories about crime and drama so I flick the TV off and dump my leftover cereal  in the sink. I have a horrible feeling in my stomach like I'm about to be sick but nothing will come out.  Getting dressed in my typical work attire and swiping my ID card off my bedside table I make a quick stop to the bathroom. Before brushing my teeth I give a quick look at the Mink in the mirror, I think I'm taller than last time I looked and more tired.

The threat of night howlers again kind of gets to me. It wasn't the idea that anyone could turn at anytime or that the whole ordeal was covered up as preds going 'savage'. It was the idea that everyone else could turn on you. A lot of us had a constant fear that we'd wake up in a Zootopia that wanted us out or much worse.

 

 

Getting out of my apartment couldn't come soon enough. I carefully ease my door shut behind me, most people in my apartment block are diurnal prey, I wouldn't want to disturb them. I hear something scrape about in the darkness at the end of the hall. Instinctively I move back but as I do I make out  someone slowly shuffling down the hall and if the tapping feet are anything to go by it's a very familiar Pangolin.

"Hey Harry, how's it going," I call out in a hushed whisper.

"Hey there Henry," He whispers back after switching whatever music player he has on him off.

"You see what happened on the news?"

"Nah, I've just been out jogging," he replies.

"Some nutcase got someone with night howlers and they wrecked some restaurant in Tundratown."

He takes a moment to think it over.

"It's awful," he replies.

"Yeah it's terrible, thought that stuff would dry up after they busted the mammals keeping stockpiles of it."

"Guess there's always someone out there with some of it man."

"Anyway, I gotta' head to work It's gonna' be really busy at work after everyone hears about this," I reply.

" I'll let you get on with that dude, see you later Henry."

"Later Harry," I whisper, waving goodbye.

The friendly pangolin smiles back and then continues on down the corridor, humming some tune as he goes. I head towards the stairwell, creaking open the door. Despite being a pretty nice apartment block the stairs have always had an odd dinginess to them, the paint is always slightly cracked and the floorboards always creaking, I think it's because they renovated the rest of the building shortly before I came here. Getting down the stairs I nudge the door to the dimly lit lobby open. The lobby's not really much to talk about it has a radio and a sofa, that's it. I throw open the front door, stepping into the cool night.

It's a night like this that reminds me why I moved to Shady Place, it's absolutely beautiful. I take off towards the train station getting a good view of the river Mongoose as I go although I guess you'd get a nicer view up by the waterfall areas. Past the river you can see the Rainforest district proper, I was considering moving there at first as I could  take a much faster route to palm street but I didn't fancy the rainfall, another thing is those crazy sprinklers. It's a pretty quiet trip as I'm guessing most mammals are either going to sleep or just getting home for the evening. Shady Place station is just up ahead and luckily there isn't a queue although in all honesty Shady place lives up to its name so I shouldn't really expect to see many mammals about at this time. I pass straight by the ticket machines, I brought my CLAM system card with me. A quick swipe of the card opens up the gates. I scurry down the stairs onto platform 2, all empty except for a polar bear glancing at my arrival. My train will be here in less than a minute, I take the time to brush some dirt of my shirt. After a rather uninteresting  silence the train finally rolls onto the platform and it's a multi decked carriage too, perfect.

It's a marvel how the train system caters to everyone. You could pluck any random mammal off the street and they'd fit somewhere in one of these behemoths. I take a seat on the top deck, one more for mammals my size and usually not as crowded as the lower deck. I'm alone up here so it's quiet and easy to get a seat with a good view. As the train begins to slowly rumble into life I pull out my phone again. There's still no messages. It'll take some time to get to Palm Street so I just end up staring out the window and glancing at the news on my phone. The train erupts into the over ground from time to time and we're bathed in the moonlight, it's almost eerie. Although the night is great and all I kind of wish I was diurnal, I mean everything is just so fresh and new in the morning and a blue sky sure beats a pitch black one after a while. I will admit the night skyline is much better though, something about all the vibrant colours and distant lights really gets to me. Occasionally the train shudders to a halt when we reach the next station while slowly but surely we get closer to Palm Street.

You can tell you're in Sahara Square even underground by the overpowering humid air. It doesn't get any better rolling into Palm Street. It's sweltering as usual but the station isn't far away from work so it doesn't bother me, besides the lab has aircon.

Keeping to the shade is a good idea in Sahara square if you're not adapted to a hot climate, personally I like to weave between the palms and storefronts. Despite the heat Sahara's a nice place in general, the stores are always full of colourful displays while everything seems so laid back and friendly. I come to the stop outside a particular cafe, they do the best coffee in Sahara. There's a small line but I'm not too bothered as long as I get my lunch for later and some coffee. As soon as I step back out the heat immediately comes back, only it feels worse after being in a building with an AC unit. I fumble with my ID card in my pocket, my destination is just up ahead.

The enormous gates blocking my path might be pretty intimidating but the Rhino security guard sure isn't. A quick show of my card, a friendly greeting followed by a wave and I'm in. I'm about to rush through the lobby when two voices sound out in unison.

"Hey Henry, how's it going?"

Trust Jake and Karl to be hiding in plain sight, the Lion and Hyena duo are leaning against the wall with their usual enthusiastic smiles.

"Hi guys, I'm guessing we're on red alert after the news?"

"Yep, we've already got an order in for some emergency stocks by both the ZPD and the ZMS," Jake responds.

"In fact we're just waiting for th-," Karl stops mid sentence.

As far as I know there's only one force in the world that can stop these two from smiling or talking and she normally isn't in at this time of night. Jake and Karl are already standing like they're in front of a firing squad, personally I find freezing in place to be a better option. Of course the mammal behind me is the grumpiest Alpaca in the known universe.

"Henry?"

"Y-yes ma'am?"

"You're just the mammal I was looking for right now, make sure you're at my office in an hour, make sure you're there on time."

As you can see not exactly happy to be in during the nocturnal shift.

"And will you two SHUT UP!" she yells at the giggling duo. We watch her light up a cigarette and storm off down the corridor. Jake and Karl immediately burst into laughter as soon as she's out of earshot.

"Man, I really wouldn't want to be you right now," Karl says while in hysterics.

" Yeah I get it, I'm about to be sacrificed to the demon herself," I respond.

"Don't worry we'll dig your grave for you," quips Jake.

"I'll mop up your guts for free!" adds Karl.

We all burst out into laughter at that statement, it's good to have someone to lighten the mood at a time like this. I part ways with the chuckling pair and head off. I've got to take the elevator to the basement floor and it's quiet as I wait for it as usual. I'm stuck thinking about the meeting or should I say 'appointment' I have in about an hour. "It's just about the night howlers," I tell myself, "Just how much we need to produce, details about the orders that's all." I barely notice that the elevator has arrived but I snap out of it and hop in. I've got to calm down about this but nothing I do seems to make me any less nervous. I collect my thoughts and decide a plan of action, I'll quickly dump my stuff then head up to the top floor and just wait out the rest of the hour.

Although the above ground floors are pretty populated during the night shift the basement is a complete ghost town. Taking away everyone makes it more like the set of a horror film although I can't exactly remember the last time I saw someone hacked apart by a madman in a well lit and squeaky clean corridor. I make for my office, it's small and nothing fancy with enough room for a desk and filing cabinet and a place to store anything I need. You'd think that it'd feel claustrophobic in a place like this but it feels oddly welcoming. I dump my briefcase next to my desk and what I can only describe as a glorified bar stool. Yeah I know that its only there so I have an easier time addressing mammals taller than me but it still looks way too out of place and it's not exactly comfortable either. Shitty furniture aside I dump my briefcase under my desk and quickly make myself look presentable, it's best to look good with Miss Fleeceworth and I'm still not sure what I'm being called for. Anyway, time to go ahead and face what I've been dreading this morning.

I take back anything I've ever said about me being prepared for anything, I'm currently shitting myself in fear over what's I think is coming next. Every minute seems like an hour right now. I'm staring into space twiddling my thumbs like an idiot when the door slowly creaks open but to my surprise instead of striding out Miss Fleeceworth just sticks her snout just beyond the door and gestures for me to enter, weird. I trudge into her room and begrudgingly head towards her desk to take a seat. The room itself is a bit imposing you know the kind, company achievements and photos but barren of decoration everywhere else, I could imagine a villain sitting in that chair before making an ultimatum to the world leaders. After taking a seat I figure I might as well say something at this point.

"Err, why exactly am I here ma'am?" I nervously ask.

"Well, this will sound strange but don't come in tomorrow, I'll have to explain more later but you need to meet me at the following location," she quietly says before scribbling an address down.

"So I'm not getting fired or anything?"

"Why would I fire you? You've done nothing wrong. Hell, you're one of the best employees we have."

I pause for a second, she takes another drag from her cigarette. I guess she lightened up a bit after some more nicotine.

"I think I might have overblown this one, a lot," I chuckle. Looking at it now I look like a massive idiot although I'm not really surprised, I guess panicking can make you think a lot of things. Oh well it's a weight off my chest at least.

"Eh, I understand I'm not exactly the most reassuring figure out there, I've had people panic worse than that before," she smirks while clicking her pen.

I get handed a scrap of paper with an address on it. Miss Fleeceworth breaks into a slightly worrying smile.

"You might want to bring a coat for this one Mr Scrapper."

 

 

I cram another slice of cricket and mushroom pizza in my mouth followed by a few more slurps of soda. Jake is hunched over next to me fiddling with his mane, shame Karl couldn't make it too. The cheesy movie on screen is one of my favourites, ' _They came from Sahara!_  ',the opening credits come on through this really weird footage of some animals just eating ants right off the floor. Although they have anteaters you can see a pangolin and what looks like some Aardwolves. I wasn't aware that Pangolins ate ants, guess I'll have to ask Harry about that. Marvin cranes his massive neck down to me from his chair. He gives a vague gesture to his phone, I can just about make out something on Zoogle maps. The giraffe leans down to give me a look at the screen.

"I took a look at the place you're heading to. Doesn't look very interesting, you know why you're heading there?" He quickly asks.

"Nope, I just got handed a slip of paper with this address on it," I respond

"I'll see if Elaine knows anything about the area."

"She still on duty?" I ask.

"Yeah, apparently it's a real bitch currently."

I return to the film on screen, there isn't much point pondering about some boring street in Tundratown. Tonight would've been better if a few more mammals could make it, three of us feels a bit lonely. I turn my attention back to the movie. It's the part where the gang is getting picked off by the mutant bugs. I'm torn away from the praying mantis bearing down on the bear by a rapid tapping on my shoulder.

"Holy shit Henry!" Marvin gasps.

"What is it," I say as I whip round to face him.

"The address, it's on Blizzard street, dude it's right opposite the place where the whole nighthowler thing happened!"

Jake just sits there taking it all in, I can't help but think aloud.

"Oh shit!"

Well so much for a good day.


End file.
